When a multicast broadcast service (MBS) is applied in a wireless network, the same information content is sent to a plurality of or all terminal users via an air interface, so as to share wireless network resources and increase the utilization of the network resources. The MBS is also defined in various communication standards, for example, a multimedia broadcast/multicast service (MBMS) defined in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and broadcast/multicast services (BCMCS) defined in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2).
The Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) forum also formulates a multicast and broadcast service (MCBCS) as the definition of the MBS based on characteristics of the WiMAX network, and defines an MCBCS server/controller for realizing the MCBCS. In a network, the MBS content is provided by a service/content provider through a service/content provision server. The service/content provider can be a third party other than the communication network operator. The MCBCS server/controller has the following functions: maintaining service information of the MCBCS, deciding and controlling start and termination of an MCBCS session, managing service subscription, authentication, and accounting, storing and forwarding content provided by the service/content provision server, and integrating different content and channels into a program and delivering the integrated program to an access network. Meanwhile, the MCBCS server/controller may serve as a content server.
With the requirement of opening the network services, a third party application interface capable of opening services of the WiMAX network to inside or outside of the network, that is, a universal service interface (USI), is also introduced in the WiMAX network. The WiMAX network provides a service interface for an application service provider (ASP)/Internet ASP (iASP) through a USI system. By invoking the service capability provided by the USI, the ASP or iASP may utilize services open for a WiMAX access terminal and personalized services can be provided to the WiMAX access terminal more conveniently through an ASP network or the Internet. The service capability of the WiMAX network opened through the USI system includes Quality of Service (QoS), location service, terminal information query, and terminal authentication.
FIG. 1 shows a network reference model of a USI system. A mobile station (MS), an access service network (ASN), and a connectivity service network (CSN) are three major parts of a WiMAX network. The ASP/iASP is an application service provider independent from the WiMAX network. As shown in FIG. 1, the USI system is located in the CSN or possibly outside the CSN. A plurality of CSNs shares the same USI system. The USI system interacts with the ASP/iASP through a U1 interface. The USI system may also optionally interact with an authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server, a message server, and a location server in the CSN. An existing Internet interface (for example, a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) method) is employed for the interaction between the MS and the ASP/iASP.
The inventor finds that in the prior art, for the MBS defined in the WiMAX network, only a content delivery operation between the service/content provision server and the MCBCS server/controller is defined, while a management operation by the service/content provision server on the MBS provided to a terminal user by the MCBCS server/controller is not defined. Therefore, in the prior art, the service/content provision server may not realize effective management of the MBS operated by the service/content provision server itself, for example, the service/content provision server is unable to change QoS of an MBS session dynamically or make statistics on user information in real time.